The Airborne Metagenome in an Indoor Urban Environment

The indoor atmosphere is an ecological unit that impacts on public health. To investigate the composition of organisms in this space, we applied culture-independent approaches to microbes harvested from the air of two densely populated urban buildings, from which we analyzed 80 megabases genomic DNA sequence and 6000 16S rDNA clones. The air microbiota is primarily bacteria, including potential opportunistic pathogens commonly isolated from human-inhabited environments such as hospitals, but none of the data contain matches to virulent pathogens or bioterror agents. Comparison of air samples with each other and nearby environments suggested that the indoor air microbes are not random transients from surrounding outdoor environments, but rather originate from indoor niches. Sequence annotation by gene function revealed specific adaptive capabilities enriched in the air environment, including genes potentially involved in resistance to desiccation and oxidative damage. This baseline index of air microbiota will be valuable for improving designs of surveillance for natural or man-made release of virulent pathogens

Mutational analysis of conserved glycines 42 and 256 in Cephalosporium acremonium isopenicillin N synthase

Canadian Journal of Microbiology4710961-964CJMI

Molecular cloning, heterologous expression, and functional characterisation of a malate synthase gene from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

Canadian Journal of Microbiology468764-769CJMI

Replacement of tyrosine-197 and the corresponding tyrosine-195 to isoleucine in Cephalosporium acremonium and Streptomyces clavuligerus isopenicillin N synthase

Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung - Section C Journal of Biosciences569-10806-809ZNCB

Analysis of glutamines in catalysis in Cephalosporium acremonium isopenicillin N synthase by site-directed mutagenesis

10.1006/bbrc.1998.9663Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications2522472-475BBRC

Catalytic activity in cephalosporium acremonium isopenicillin N synthase does not involve glutamine-234

10.1006/bbrc.1998.9016Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications2483559-561BBRC

A comparison of three site-directed mutagenesis kits

Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung - Section C Journal of Biosciences569-10810-813ZNCB

Relevant Double Mutations in Bioengineered Streptomyces clavuligerus Deacetoxycephalosporin C Synthase Result in Higher Binding Specificities Which Improve Penicillin Bioconversion▿

Streptomyces clavuligerus deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase (ScDAOCS) is an important industrial enzyme for the production of 7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporanic acid, which is a precursor for cephalosporin synthesis. Single mutations of six amino acid residues, V275, C281, N304, I305, R306, and R307, were previously shown to result in enhanced levels of ampicillin conversion, with activities ranging from 129 to 346% of the wild-type activity. In this study, these mutations were paired to investigate their effects on enzyme catalysis. The bioassay results showed that the C-terminal mutations (N304X [where X is alanine, leucine, methionine, lysine, or arginine], I305M, R306L, and R307L) in combination with C281Y substantially increased the conversion of ampicillin; the activity was up to 491% of the wild-type activity. Similar improvements were observed for converting carbenicillin (up to 1,347% of the wild-type activity) and phenethicillin (up to 1,109% of the wild-type activity). Interestingly, the N304X R306L double mutants exhibited lower activities for penicillin G conversion, and activities that were 40 to 114% of wild-type enzyme activity were detected. Based on kinetic studies using ampicillin, it was clear that the increases in the activities of the double mutants relative to those of the corresponding single mutants were due to enhanced substrate binding affinities. These results also validated the finding that the N304R and I305M mutations are ideal for increasing the substrate binding affinity and turnover rate of the enzyme, respectively. This study provided further insight into the structure-function interaction of ScDAOCS with different penicillin substrates, thus providing a useful platform for further rational modification of its enzymatic properties